JAKARTA: In a move to meet the high demand for skilled workers in the domestic aviation industry, the National Education Ministry plans to develop a special vocational school to train pilots.

The ministry's director for development of vocational schools, Joko Sutrisno, said the school would be established this year in either Semarang or Malang, East Java.

Different from the 25 existing aviation vocational schools in the country, the new school will have a four instead of three year program. Unlike the existing schools, which trains students in technical aircraft maintenance only, the latter is expected to also produce pilots with basic flying skills.

Currently, the only school that produces pilots in the country is the Indonesia Aviation Higher School in Curug, Tangerang, which receives 30 students per year, all of which must have studied science in high school.

Joko said the aviation schools had produced just 1,000 workers for the aviation industry, well short of the 6,000 needed. -- JP

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